PENGUINS WEEKLY – 12/12/23
Trio of North Division opponents await Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
WEEKLY – Penguins (11-9-3-0) looking to find Holiday magic for Santa’s visit to Saturday home game
Penguins Weekly Rewind
Friday, Dec. 8 – PENGUINS 5 vs. Cleveland 3
Two goals by Alex Nylander spurred the Penguins to another defeat of Cleveland, bringing their all-time record against the Monsters to 15-2-2-0. The visitors had a 1-0 lead after one, but second-period tallies by Ty Smith and Raivis Ansons put the Penguins ahead, and they never looked back. Nylander scored twice in the third, and Magnus Hellberg finished with 34 saves.
Saturday, Dec. 9 – PENGUINS 1 vs. Providence 5
The Bruins extended the AHL’s longest active win streak to seven on the backs of Jesper Boqvist, Georgii Merkulov and Justin Brazeau. That line scored all five of Providence’s goals, and Merkulov wowed with five points (2G-3A). The Penguins’ lone goal came from Nylander during a third-period power play.
The Weekly Ahead
Wednesday, Dec. 13 – PENGUINS vs. Syracuse
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will host Syracuse for the second time this season. Their season series is split at one win apiece with the road team winning both games. Crunch forward Mitchell Chaffee has five goals and seven points in his last six games.
Friday, Dec. 15 – PENGUINS at Utica
The Penguins and Comets square off for the first time this season. Utica ranks sixth out of seven teams in the North Division, but has won four-straight games. Graeme Clark has scored the game-winning goal in three of those four victories.
Saturday, Dec. 16 – PENGUINS vs. Rochester
The Penguins return home from the Empire State to take on another New York-based club, the Rochester Americans. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Rochester split their season series last year, including a dramatic, 5-4 shootout victory for the Penguins at home. Amerks forward Jiří Kulich is tied for the second-most goals in the league (13). Saturday is also the Penguins’ annual Christmas Celebration, including a visit from ol’ Saint Nick!
Ice Chips
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is the only team that ranks in the top five of both power play (25.1%) and penalty kill (86.8%).
- Ty Smith ranks tied for fourth among defensemen with 18 points (4G-14A).
- Smith and Xavier Ouellet both have eight power-play assists, good for fourth among league defensemen.
- Alex Nylander has six goals and 10 points in his last eight AHL games.
- Peter Abbandonato has six points (2G-4A) in his first five games as a Penguin after being acquired in a trade on Nov. 27.
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has had a different game-winning goal-scorer in each of its 11 victories this season.
DIVISION STANDINGS
TEAM LEADERS
* = rookie
X = not on current roster
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Dec. 13 | Syracuse | Mohegan Sun Arena | 7:05 p.m. |
| Fri, Dec. 15 | Utica | Adirondack Bank Center | 7:05 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec. 16 | Rochester | Mohegan Sun Arena | 6:05 p.m. |
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
| Fri, Dec. 8 | (RW) Valtteri Puustinen | Recalled to PIT |
| Fri, Dec. 8 | (C) Jonathan Gruden | Recalled to PIT |
| Fri, Dec. 8 | (RW) Marc Johnstone | Recalled to PIT |
| Sun, Dec. 10 | (D) Pierre-Olivier Joseph | Recalled to PIT |
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